Shohola man claims to see a cougar; it wasn't Demi Moore

Maxy fixated on a window, alternating between an urgent bark and an intense low growl, different than what Shohola dog owner Jim Lord had heard before. It was enough to get Lord's attention at 5:20 Sunday morning.

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By BETH BRELJE

poconorecord.com

By BETH BRELJE

Posted Jul. 3, 2012 at 12:01 AM

By BETH BRELJE

Posted Jul. 3, 2012 at 12:01 AM

» Social News

Maxy fixated on a window, alternating between an urgent bark and an intense low growl, different than what Shohola dog owner Jim Lord had heard before.

It was enough to get Lord's attention at 5:20 Sunday morning. He lumbered bleary-eyed to the window and saw a large animal near the neighbor's log cabin.

"Funny thing was, when I saw him the first time, I saw brown. He looked like a deer because he was the same color. Then I saw the tail moving and realized it was a wild cat," said Lord, 63.

The big cat's tail swished in slow motion.

"He was huge! I was in awe," Lord said.

He believes it was a mountain lion.

But Bill Williams, spokesman for the Northeast Region of the Pennsylvania Game Commission, doubts it. The Game Commission receives a few dozen reports of mountain lion sightings a year.

Mountain lions, or cougars, were hunted to extinction in the late 1800s.

"We get so many reports about mountain lions, and they never pan out to be a mountain lion. Odds are it was misidentified," Williams said. "The last verifiable mountain lion in Pennsylvania was in the in 1880s."

In the right light and angle, bobcats are sometimes mistaken for mountain lions.

"No way this was a bobcat," Lord said. "He was all brown, a deer-colored cat. He was no bobcat!"

The cat that Lord saw was taller at the back than a grown man's knees. From about 30 yards away, it appeared to come up to the third log of the neighbor's cabin. It was sniffing around.

It had a remarkable, long tail. Bobcats are spotted with wide, stubby tails.

Through the window Sunday, Maxy, a black lab/border collie mix, stood his ground with continued growling. Other dogs in the Sagamore Estates neighborhood were barking but it didn't seem to faze the big cat, Lord said.

He called 911 to report the animal and was advised to simply let it "runs its course." Before long, the cat disappeared into the woods.

Later, Lord told neighbors about the sighting, figuring they may want to keep a close eye on small children.

A retired Associated Press photographer, Lord is disappointed that he missed getting a photo. "By the time I dug my camera out, he would have been gone," Lord said. "It's like saying you saw Sasquatch. Where's the picture?"

He assumed it was a one-time photo opportunity. But around 6:20 a.m. Monday, Maxy was again at the window barking and growling. This time, the large cat was further away, in the woods, and appeared to be nosing around on the ground, possibly eating something, before it slunk away.

Lord is going to charge the battery and place his camera someplace handy, just in case the cat comes back again.

"Decade after decade, we've never had a (mountain lion) road kill, a verifiable photograph or one shot that was mistaken for another animal. If it were a mountain lion, it would be major news," Williams said.